Trump ally Lauren Boebert is locked in an unexpectedly tight race for her House seat

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., has found herself in a surprisingly close race for re-election as control of the House remains uncertain.

Boebert, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, was narrowly leading Democratic challenger Adam Frisch, 160,451 to 159,315, with 98% of the vote counted Thursday night. Earlier in the day, Boebert was trailing Frisch, a businessman who previously served on the Aspen City Council.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report had rated the district as solidly Republican ahead of Tuesday’s election. Trump won the district twice, capturing 53.1% of the vote in 2016 and 52.9% four years later.

“Hang tight. Keep the faith!” Boebert wrote Wednesday night on Facebook as she trailed her opponent.

Boebert, a first-term lawmaker, was 33 when she defeated five-term incumbent Scott Tipton in the 2020 GOP primary. In the general election that year, she defeated Democrat Diane Mitsch Bush with 51.4% of the vote.

Advertisement

Frisch, meanwhile, tweeted Thursday that the race was “incredibly close.”

“Every vote matters in this incredibly close race and thousands of votes in Pueblo County and from military & overseas voters remain, and a considerable number of curable ballots remain as well,” he wrote.

Under Colorado law, a recount is required if the difference between the top two vote-getters is less than or equal to 0.5% of the higher vote total cast in that election contest.

Since she arrived on Capitol Hill, Boebert has established herself as one of the most far-right members of Congress. Early on, she promoted Trump’s stolen election lies and caused an uproar when she claimed she was legally permitted to carry a gun in the Capitol after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

That same year, Boebert drew scrutiny when a video emerged of her suggesting that Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., had been mistaken for a terrorist in an elevator they were riding in the Capitol. Boebert apologized.

More recently, Boebert and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., taunted President Joe Biden in his 2022 State of the Union address. Greene was re-elected Tuesday.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are starting to ramp up plans to take over the House, even though dozens of races remain uncalled. Control of the Senate is also unclear, with the contests in Arizona and Nevada too early to call, according to NBC News, and the Georgia race headed to a Dec. 6 runoff.